Breastfeeding Mom Whips 'Em Out in Hotel Lobby After Being Told to Pump in the Bathroom

Unless you eat your lunch in the bathroom, don't ask a breastfeeding mother to pump there. That's the message this fed-up mom wanted to send to the staff of an Embassy Suites by pumping in the lobby. And every mother should support her and the businesses that treat breastfeeding women with respect.

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Lynda Mazzalai Nguyen shared this photo of her pumping in the Embassy Suites lobby after being told that there was no other place for her to pump than the bathroom. In the entire hotel. Not an office, or empty room, or any other room with an outlet could be found to help her out.

Eventually they offered her a wine cellar, but by then, she was pissed and ready to make a point:

Nguyen, a social worker, was attending a conference at the hotel, which she identified as an Embassy Suites.

"At a seminar at a hotel, went to front desk to ask if there's a private space where I can pump, and was told by two different staff to use the bathroom," Nguyen wrote. "F*CK YOU! NO! I told them they don't eat lunch in the bathroom, so it's gross to expect me to contaminate baby's milk in there."

Yes! Women have been expected to pump in bathrooms for years and it's totally gross. We should all show as much courage as Lynda did and start calling it what it is: discrimination.

See, it doesn't matter whether you're uncomfortable with it or not. Moms who are breastfeeding need to get their babies fed regardless of your distaste for the act itself. It's happening. It probably happened for you when you were a baby. So why can't everyone just quit making such a big deal about it and try to make life just a little bit easier for lactating ladies?

Is that really so much to ask?

Lynda's post details her experience, which sounds infuriating. Here is just a part of it:

So you're telling me in the WHOLE entire building there isn't a single space for me to plug in for 15 min to pump for my baby?? Office? Conference room? Anything? "No, there isn't. The conference rooms aren't private since you can't lock the door and people come in and out." That's fine with me, I just need a room with an outlet. "Well, I'm not comfortable putting you in there." WTF, lady!! Work with me here.

... Based on principle, I decided to pump in the lobby next to reception. F*ck you, @embassysuites. I'm livid. I spoke to the GM and expressed their need to train their staff, and reiterated how appalling it was to be quickly dismissed without any attempts to accommodate my need and offered a bathroom because sir, you don't eat where you sh*t, so why should my baby! He apologized profusely.

Besides the fact that she's a total superhero for standing up for herself, it's women like her who are helping push for change that every other mother benefits from.

So let's all pitch in with Lynda and throw our shoulder behind pushing back on the idea that breastfeeding mothers are some sort of inconvenience, or that breastfeeding should be done in some dirty public bathroom. We can do that by spending our dollars with businesses that show mothers a little regard, like Holiday Inn Express, which Erin Suttek, who commented on Lynda's post, said treated her "like a god damned QUEEN" when she needed to pump.

"They opened up an entire empty banquet room, pulled up a table and chairs to the nearest plug in and basically made the lousy, pointless, full day seminar worth while," she wrote.

As for Embassy Suites, Lynda has that part of the world already taken care of. Because you can bet the next woman who needs an outlet and a spot to pump will be treated far better than she was.

The good news is that she has plenty of support. The post, which was first posted on Breastfeeding Mama Talk's Facebook page, has been shared more than 2,200 times and even got a comment from Embassy Suites' official account apologizing for the whole incident:

We are very disappointed to hear about this situation and we are sorry for the lack of sensitivity shown to this guest. Sensitivity communication will be reinforced to all of our hotels with the intent to prevent this from happening to anyone else. Celebrating mothers and families is a part of our DNA at Embassy Suites by Hilton and it's our goal for that to come across to all of our guests every day.